


Scars, or Lack Thereof

by Moraith



Category: Hunter X Hunter
Genre: Blood and Injury, Gen, Light Angst, Missing Scene
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-04
Updated: 2019-05-04
Packaged: 2020-02-25 22:16:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,659
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18710758
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Moraith/pseuds/Moraith
Summary: A missing scene from Greed Island. Gon returns to Killua and Biscuit after defeating Genthru with a hand missing. Killua isn't happy, to say the least, but since no one else seems upset, he must be overreacting.





	Scars, or Lack Thereof

**Author's Note:**

> I'm like a decade late to the party, but Hunter X Hunter is pretty good, huh?

Gon's hand was gone. He was back and he was alive, but his left hand was _gone_. All that was left was a charred stump ending at his wrist. His right arm was missing a large patch of skin, burned black and bloody in places where the remains of Gon's skin had flaked off. Gon had a broad guileless grin on his face and Genthru's unconscious body slung over his shoulder. He had won, he announced cheerfully, though he had taken a little bit of damage on the way.

Killua tried to laugh it off and congratulate Gon on his victory the way a real friend would, but he couldn't get his mouth to cooperate. There was a joke in there somewhere about how Gon could've used someone to lend him a hand in that fight, not that he would have been able to say it if he had managed to come up with it. (Though, Killua realized as he tried to flex his useless fingers and got nothing but a jolt of pain for his trouble, his own hands wouldn't have helped anyway.) At least he could still smile. That was something.

Biscuit was quicker to recover from the shock. She had smacked Gon upside the head and launched into a lecture about putting himself in unnecessary danger when he was still in training before Killua managed to put together a coherent thought. Gon groaned and whined and complained until he ran out of ways to insist he was fine, then looked toward Killua. Killua's stomach dropped. 

"When Genthru wakes up, we'll heal it and it'll be fine! It's not a big deal, right, Killua?"

Killua stared at the damaged tatters of skin hanging off Gon's wrist, at the bits of shattered bone poking through the char. He had had burns like that before. He had never had his bones shattered like that; they would have healed too unevenly. For him, it was nothing but clean breaks. He didn't want to imagine how much pain Gon must have been in. He couldn't stop himself. 

He swallowed past a lump in his throat and felt the beads of sweat forming on his face. Illumi always said that was what gave him away, when he'd learned to stop screaming and begging for mercy. Illumi used to joke that he and Silva had broken Killua's eyes and that the tears had to come out somewhere else. He always had been a crybaby.

"Yeah," Killua said. A thick drop of sweat slithered its way down his cheek. "No big deal."

Biscuit directed a weary sigh and a withering glare toward Killua. "Don't encourage him, Killua. He's stubborn enough on his own." She held a finger up in the air. "Even best fri—"

"The number eight!" Gon declared. 

His blackened wrist was extended out toward Biscuit's hand. He would have been pointing, if he still had fingers to point with. Killua choked on air. Biscuit lowered her finger with a pained grimace, muttering something about force of habit. After a palpable awkward moment, Gon pumped his arm in the air, and Killua swore he could see the missing fist clenched in triumph.

"I win! Now Killua has to do a penalty game!"

Biscuit stomped over to Gon, irritation flying off her in prickly waves. She yanked Genthru out of Gon's arm and tossed him toward Sub and Bara, who were laid out on the ground nearby with far more care. 

"No, he doesn't! We don't have time for that!"

Gon pouted. "Whaaat? But I won that time, for real! Killua's never that slow..." 

Biscuit jabbed Gon in the chest with her finger. "Gon! Did you forget that Killua is injured too? Both of you just came out of a fight with an opponent stronger than you've ever fought before. You need to _rest_."

"I guess..." Gon grumbled.

He looked at Killua again. Killua had hoped that Gon wouldn't say anything else to him until he shoved down the nausea and the lightheadedness, but he was too slow again. Sweat dripped down the back of his neck and soaked into the collar of his shirt. The fabric was starting to cling to his skin and he could swear it was choking him. Gon's brow furrowed. His troubled expression, after he was so proud and so happy, was almost worse than the missing limb.

"Killua, are you okay? You look weird."

"I'm fine. Don't be stupid." 

He wiped the sweat from his face with his arms. Some of it soaked into the bandages wrapped around his hands. He knew it wasn't enough to get through to his skin, but he could feel the salt stinging his wounds. He slipped his hands back into his pockets and put on a teasing smirk.

"Speak for yourself, idiot," Killua jeered. He nodded at Gon's arms. "Doesn't that hurt?"

"Ah, mean! I was really worried!" 

Gon looked down at his own arms, more curious than afraid or pained. He flexed the fingers on his right hand and watched the empty air where his left hand used to be.

"Sure, it hurts, but it's not like it's gonna be like this forever. So it's okay! Plus, it's all burns, so it's not like it's bleeding. That would be bad. I might pass out."

He smiled at Killua and held up his arms to demonstrate. The fresh wounds smelled like cooked meat. 

"See?"

Killua did see. He saw the flaky texture of the blackened char, the angry red underneath that poked through when Gon moved, the twisted melted flesh that had cooled and settled into place again but not quite right. He saw Illumi standing over him with an open flame in his hands, saw himself begging for anything—anything at all—that wasn't fire again, please, _please_ , because it _wasn't_ fine after the burns healed up even though it wasn't forever. 

But Gon was a better, stronger person than Killua. If he said it was okay, then it was okay. Killua smiled back.

"Yeah. Looks like you got lucky, huh?"

" _Super_ lucky!" Gon agreed, grinning. "It was so cool! Genthru is a mean guy, but his Nen is really neat. He must've worked really hard on it! I'm glad I got to see him at full power. It would've been a waste otherwise..."

Killua nodded, still smiling. It was stupid, he realized then, to have expected Gon to go along with the plan. Of course he baited Genthru into fighting at full power. Of course that's why it took so long for him to get back. Of course that's why he was hurt. He shot a sidelong glance at Biscuit, but she had wandered off to deal with Genthru and his goons properly. Thankfully, she hadn't heard that. If she had, Gon and Killua would both have been in for a lecture. They were getting healed in a few minutes anyway, right? So Gon was right. The burns and the missing hand weren't important, really, as long as Gon got to do the right thing.

Killua tried to move his fingers again, with no more success than the last time. Sweat prickled at his skin again. His chest felt tight, and there was a burning pressure behind his eyes. He laughed, because he didn't know what else to do.

"Gon, you're amazing. What kind of person loses a hand just so they can see a bomb go off?"

"I didn't lose it! It's coming back!" Gon insisted. He frowned and leaned toward Killua, like he was trying to be stern. "You _are_ being weird. You should listen to Bisky and get some rest before Genthru wakes up."

"No, _you_ should get some rest! You're way more messed up than me!"

"No I'm not! You got hurt too! Bisky said so!"

They fell into the familiar routine of bickering so easily it was almost terrifying. Killua studiously avoided looking at Gon's arms, which was hard when he wouldn't stop gesturing at him with them. As long as he wasn't looking and he pretended the smell of burned flesh was Bisky's cooking, it was almost like everything was normal again. The weight on Killua's chest lifted bit by bit. The stinging in his swollen fingers faded into the background again. The crawling on his skin and the echoes of Illumi's voice disappeared into nothing like the phantoms they always were.

Gon said everything was fine, so everything was fine. If it took Killua a few minutes to convince himself that was true, it was just because he was having a slow day. A little practice could fix that. According to Biscuit, a little practice could fix anything.

As if to reinforce the point, Biscuit raised her voice to inform Gon and Killua that Genthru and his goons were beginning to stir. They had made it. The plan had gone off without a single important hitch. All they had to do was talk to Genthru, ready their cards, and Gon's hand would be back, easy as pie.

Killua stuck his tongue out at Gon for good measure, though he had lost track of what exactly they were fighting about, and ran to Biscuit's side. Gon let out an offended squawk as he followed. 

Killua stood over Genthru's body and watched him twitch awake. If Biscuit weren't right there to scold him for it, he would have kicked Genthru to speed up the process. He was done with this plan. It had worked, the hard part was over, and Killua was ready to move on. But Biscuit was right there to scold him, so he held back and let Genthru take his time. 

Gon was the one who needed the healing and he didn't seem to be in a hurry. As far as Killua could tell, Gon was content to look through his cards and wait. Killua supposed that this delay, too, was fine after all. He just had to let himself believe it.


End file.
